Political News and Commentary from the Right

Immediately following the election a year ago, a great debate ensued. Conservatives, liberals and moderates jumped at the chance to give their opinion on the cause of the great GOP meltdown that swept Democrats into control of the White House and both Houses of Congress. This debate centered on the question, “Where does the GOP go from here?”

The question should be answered today when the results are announced in the special election in New York’s 23rd Congressional District.

Last November, liberals across the country danced in the streets and proclaimed Conservatism was dead. Their answer to the pivotal question called for a hard left turn on the part of the Republican Party. Claiming the GOP had shifted “too far to the right” in recent years, left wingers were convinced Republicans had distanced themselves from the American mainstream. In short, they were calling for Republicans to embrace Democratic ideals, policies, and practices. To do otherwise, they said, would be the equivalent of committing political suicide.

Moderates mostly called for a GOP shift to the left on social issues such as abortion, gay marriage, and hate crimes legislation, and a return to conservative ideals of fiscal conservatism and limited government. These folks basically suggested the Republicans altogether abandon social conservatives, a core group that forms a significant portion of the party’s base.

And true conservatives tried to convince party leaders their future success lies in a return to true conservatism, standing tall for the principles espoused in the party’s platform. This group placed the blame for the catastrophic last two election cycles squarely at the feet of party potentates who spent years doing exactly what liberals and moderates now say will cure the cancer that has stricken the GOP. Conservative groups sprung up across the country, online and on the ground, to challenge the seeming omnipotence of Barack Hussein Obama as he imposed his left-wing, Socialist agenda on the American people.

When the National Republican Senatorial Committee endorsed liberal Florida Republican Governor Charlie Crist over his conservative challenger earlier this year, it became clear the Republican elite had chosen not to listen to those conservatives who were taking to the streets in rallies across the country. The GOP leaders were happy to ride the wave of enthusiasm that followed the Tea Parties, but remained unwilling to believe embracing their ideals was the key to rebuilding the party.

The reality is that for too long, DC Republicans have taken the conservative base of the party for granted. Believing these folks had nowhere else to turn, they chose to court left-wing liberals through compromise and sometimes outright abandonment of party principles. Though evidence of this was in plain view following last November’s election, Republicans in power were obviously blinded by a refusal to see they themselves were to blame for the precipitous decline of the party over the previous decade.

The inability to comprehend the error of their ways was even more evident last month when the Republican National Committee strong-armed local party committees in New York’s 23rd Congressional District to anoint left-wing radical Dede Scozzafava the Republican nominee for today’s special election. Then virtually all Republicans in positions of power endorsed this dream candidate of leftists everywhere over a true conservative, Doug Hoffman running on the Conservative Party ticket. But the most egregious error on the part of the national party was to spend approximately $1,000,000 promoting a candidate who stood for everything conservatives stand against, in an effort to defeat Hoffman.

These supposed leaders must now have an extremely bitter taste in their mouths after expending so much political capital to get liberal Scozzafava elected only to have her drop out last Saturday in response to her rapidly plummeting poll numbers. But then the RINO Scozzafava stabbed the GOP hierarchy in the back and twisted the knife by endorsing Democrat Bill Owens in the race. A million dollars thrown down to support a candidate who ultimately ends up endorsing a sure-to-be Obama shill on the Hill.

Many consider today’s elections a referendum on President Obama’s agenda, and his lackeys in the mainstream media are trying hard to lessen the sting of the anticipated losses. But try as they might, they can’t deny the inevitable fact that today’s elections are shaping up to be a victory for the conservative cause.

Though the liberal LA Times makes every effort to hold onto the hope of an Owens victory, even that left-wing rag was forced yesterday to admit Hoffman was leading the Democrat by 5 points on the eve of today’s election. Rebecca Sinderbrand ofCNN argues that an Owens loss today could spell more trouble for the GOP than for Obama and the Democrats. And that network’s Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser paints the picture of an angry mob of frustrated voters will be responsible for snatching defeat from Democrats in today’s elections. The NY Times admits that Hoffman will most likely win the New York House seat but claims “Republicans seeking to get back in power [in 2010] in swing states should strike a moderate tone.”

It’s now time for the leadership in the GOP to make their choice. Should the party continue on the path that would have resulted in its demise had it not been for the conservative awakening evidenced by the Tea Parties, 912 movement and others? Or should it embrace this powerful new grassroots force that resuscitated it and brought it back from the brink of death?

Some seem to be getting the picture, but others have yet to open their eyes.

House Minority Leader John Boehner stated yesterday that he regrets having ever endorsed Scozzafava. Former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee finally endorsed the conservative Hoffman after liberal Scozzafava was forced to quit the race. But one-time leader of the conservative wing of the GOP, Newt Gingrich, refuses to admit his error in betting on the losing donkey and instead blasts conservative grassroots activists for working to purge the party of RINOs who would rather see a far left Democrat win than a true conservative.

Next year’s mid-term elections are one year away. Hopefully the Scozzafava lesson has been learned by most of the GOP elite. To the leaders of the party:

You’re either with us or against us. Return to the principles espoused in the GOP platform, or stand aside. Because conservatives in this country are on the move and are willing to stamp out RINOs anywhere and everywhere we find them.

The TCOT Report has covered the race since Scozzafava’s nomination and exposed the level of influence the national Republican Party wielded to secure here nomination. Though Newt Gingrich referred to the decision to nominate Dede as unanimous, TCOT Report exposed that two of eleven county officials still refuse to endorse Scozzafava! True conservatives around the nation have rallied against the GOP to support Hoffman in order to send a message to the national party–Return to conservative principles, or lose!

After the latest Siena Poll shows the race a dead heat between Democrat Bill Owens and Hoffman, with Scozzafava a distant third, the RINO has withdrawn from the race. Here’s her statement, compliments of Politico:

Dear Friends and Supporters:

Throughout the course of my campaign for Congress, I have made the people of the 23rd District and the issues that affect them the focal point of my campaign. As a life long resident of this District, I care deeply and passionately about its people and our way of life. Whether as a candidate for Congress, a State Assemblywoman or a small town Mayor, I have always sought to act with the best interest of our District and its residents in mind—and today I again seek to act for the good of our community.

The opportunity to run as the Republican and Independence Party candidate to represent the 23rd District has been and remains one of the greatest honors of my life. During the past several months, as I’ve traveled the district, meeting and talking with voters about the issues that matter most to them, I’ve been overwhelmed by the amount of support I’ve received as I sought to serve as their voice in Washington. However, as Winston Churchill once said, Democracy can be a fickle employer, and the road to public office is not always a smooth one.

In recent days, polls have indicated that my chances of winning this election are not as strong as we would like them to be. The reality that I’ve come to accept is that in today’s political arena, you must be able to back up your message with money—and as I’ve been outspent on both sides, I’ve been unable to effectively address many of the charges that have been made about my record. But as I’ve said from the start of this campaign, this election is not about me, it’s about the people of this District. And, as always, today I will do what I believe serves their interests best.

It is increasingly clear that pressure is mounting on many of my supporters to shift their support. Consequently, I hereby release those individuals who have endorsed and supported my campaign to transfer their support as they see fit to do so. I am and have always been a proud Republican. It is my hope that with my actions today, my Party will emerge stronger and our District and our nation can take an important step towards restoring the enduring strength and economic prosperity that has defined us for generations.

On Election Day my name will appear on the ballot, but victory is unlikely. To those who support me – and to those who choose not to – I offer my sincerest thanks.

Dede

Question for Newt Gingrich, Pete Sessions, John Boehner, and all the other Republican elite who threw their support behind this Democrat who calls herself a Republican: Is it clear now that Americans don’t want Republican politicians who act like Democrats, but Republicans with real conservative values for which they’ll stand firm?

Since November, many have called for the Republican Party to turn back to its conservative principles. Though a few have hypothesized the 2008 trouncing of the GOP was due to the party standing too far to the right, conservative Americans refute those who believe a Republican resurgence can only happen if the GOP tries harder to emulate Democrats.

Reports here and elsewhere of Republican leaders’ failure to understand the key to a Republican renewal continue to fall on the deaf ears of party elites who endorsed the definition of a RINO (Republican in Name Only) in New York’s 23rd Congressional District, Dede Scozzafava.

But some high profile conservatives are listening, and responding. Michele Bachmann, Tim Pawlenty, Jim Demint, and Sarah Palin are just a few who have rebuked the Republican Party nobility who can’t seem to understand Americans don’t want any Republican elected, they want conservative Republicans elected. Though the RINO aristocrats of the GOP nominated the Democratic dream candidate Scozzafava and stabbed the true conservative candidate Doug Hoffman in the back, these and other conservative heavyweights have now cast their lots with Hoffman on the 3rd party Conservative ticket.

Now the latest poll is showing what conservatives knew, and the GOP aristocracy ignored, all along. Hoffman now leads both Scozzafava and her Democratic challenger, Bill Owens. In fact, over the course of the last month Owen’s support has remained mostly steady, while liberal Scozzafava and conservative Hoffman have traded poll numbers. This time last month, a Siena poll had Scozzafava leading with 35, Owens with 28, and Hoffman at 16. Now a Minuteman/Neighborhood poll has Hoffman leading with 34, Owens at 28, and liberal Scozzafava falling fast at 14.

The GOP brass better get it figured out in a hurry. The people are coming out to elect conservatives, in cooperation with, or in spite of the Republican Party!